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Itinerary for Sep 22 — Oct 7, 2013

Description: The hotel is situated at the centre of Lecce and at a few steps from the old town centre.
It is a structure of high level, respecting the traditional local culture for hospitality. It was created to host the guests with exclusiveness and warmth. A modern complex that conjugates elegance and tradition, comfort and efficiency of the services.

Description: The hotel is situated at the centre of Lecce and at a few steps from the old town centre.
It is a structure of high level, respecting the traditional local culture for hospitality. It was created to host the guests with exclusiveness and warmth. A modern complex that conjugates elegance and tradition, comfort and efficiency of the services.

Morning: Lecture on "the medieval Salento between East and West" held by Professor Paul Arthur. Field trip to Galatina. Visit of the Church
of Saint Caterina. The late Romanesque church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, built in 1390 by Raimondello del Balzo Orsini, count of Soleto, with a fine portal and rose-window. The interior contains frescoes by Francesco d'Arezzo (1435). The apse contains the fine mausoleum of the son of the founder, a canopy supported by four columns, with his statue beneath it

Lunch: Lunch at the local restaurant

Afternoon: Visit of Otranto. Otranto is a town and commune in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a fertile region, and once famous for its breed of horses.
Otranto is situated on the east coast of the Salento peninsula. The Strait of Otranto connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea. The harbour is small and has little trade. With some stroll along the waterfront before returning to hotel.

Description: The Grand Hotel d'Aragona, surrounded by a beautiful park, is located 600 meters from the historical center of Conversano, today recognized as "città d'arte" and located on a wide area of great tourist interest

Room amenities: The rooms are well furnished and provided with every kind of comfort: air conditioning, television, telephone, cocktail cabinet and refrigerator.

Facility amenities: The hotel has a large hall that can hold more than 1000 people, a restaurant with regional, national and international cuisine, a relaxation room, a game room, and an American bar. It also has a swimming pool for adults and children and a luxurious garden surrounding the majestic amphitheatre conceived for great events.

Smoking policy: YesSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Elevator: Yes

Day Four: Wednesday, September 25 - Departure to Conversano, check in at the Grand Ho...

Departure to Conversano, check in at the Grand Hotel D'Aragona, Conversano, lecture.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the Hotel

Morning: Departure to Conversano. Check in at Grand Hotel D'Aragona.

Lunch: Lunch at the Hotel

Afternoon: Visit of Conversano. The City was known as Norba by the Romans and was founded during the Iron Age by the Lapigi (8th Century BC), an Illyrian people.
Lecture on: “The Romanesque art in Puglia” held by Dr. Awdie Coppola

Description: The Grand Hotel d'Aragona, surrounded by a beautiful park, is located 600 meters from the historical center of Conversano, today recognized as "città d'arte" and located on a wide area of great tourist interest

Room amenities: The rooms are well furnished and provided with every kind of comfort: air conditioning, television, telephone, cocktail cabinet and refrigerator.

Facility amenities: The hotel has a large hall that can hold more than 1000 people, a restaurant with regional, national and international cuisine, a relaxation room, a game room, and an American bar. It also has a swimming pool for adults and children and a luxurious garden surrounding the majestic amphitheatre conceived for great events.

Smoking policy: YesSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Elevator: Yes

Day Five: Thursday, September 26 - Lecture, Alberobello,

Breakfast: Breakfast at the Hotel.

Morning: Lecture on “the Trulli Architecture of Puglia” held by Dr. Emanuela D'Andria.
Departure to Alberobello – UNESCO World Heritage Site
Alberobello is situated on the second step of Le Murge, south of the Canale di Pirro, and is best-known centre in the region. It was born as a farming village near an oak-wood and this is the reason for its name, originally silva arboris belli. All around Alberobello the rolling countryside is planted with vines, olives and almond trees and dotted everywhere by clusters of Trulli. Isolated or in groups, the Trulli make up the urban fabric of the monumental area of the world famous Alberobello.
The Trulli take their name from the Greek tholos (cupola) and give the whole area a social characteristic that is unique in Italy: born following the division of landed property, they constitute the so-called phenomenon of scattered population. Each family group lives on its own land without forming urban centers; these microcosms are based on an average estate two hectares in size, all farmed, with a Trullo standing in at the centre and dominating the land.
Visit of the town

Lunch: Experience the truly flavors of Puglia lunching in a local family house and learn how the cheese “mozzarella” is made

Description: The Grand Hotel d'Aragona, surrounded by a beautiful park, is located 600 meters from the historical center of Conversano, today recognized as "città d'arte" and located on a wide area of great tourist interest

Room amenities: The rooms are well furnished and provided with every kind of comfort: air conditioning, television, telephone, cocktail cabinet and refrigerator.

Facility amenities: The hotel has a large hall that can hold more than 1000 people, a restaurant with regional, national and international cuisine, a relaxation room, a game room, and an American bar. It also has a swimming pool for adults and children and a luxurious garden surrounding the majestic amphitheatre conceived for great events.

Smoking policy: YesSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Elevator: Yes

Day Six: Friday, September 27 - Bari, Poligano al Mare, Lecture

Breakfast: Breakfast at the Hotel

Morning: Excursion to Bari. The Basilica of San Nicola, erected to house the Saint's mortal remains, stolen from Myra and triumphantly escorted to the city, was built between 1087and 1197. The building was inspired by a model essentially alien to local tradition, based on the abbey church of Montecassino and the earliest Norman tribune constructions. The central portal is framed by a portico, made in the second half of the 12th century under the guidance of an unknown master, certainly aware of the most recent developments in European Romanesque style: the side columns are supported by nomumental figures of oxen. The Swabian Castle is a Swabian construction, insisting on previous artifacts, erected by Frederick II between 1233 and 1240. Become the seat of the Sforzas in the 16th century, it was surrounded by a mighty curtain of walls with pentagonal-plan towers at the corners and the inner courtyard was given Reinassance forms: it houses a plaster-cast gallery containing numerous plaster molds, copies of sculptures and architectural and decorative fragments of Roman monuments, a 13th century wooden crucifix and a triptych by the Vivarini brothers.

Lunch: Lunch at the local restaurant in Mola di Bari

Afternoon: Departure to the small village of Poligano a Mare
Visit the old part of the village and a stroll along the waterfront.
Return to the hotel
Lecture on: “Castel Del Monte: History and Mystery” held by
Dr. Awdie Coppola

Description: The Grand Hotel d'Aragona, surrounded by a beautiful park, is located 600 meters from the historical center of Conversano, today recognized as "città d'arte" and located on a wide area of great tourist interest

Room amenities: The rooms are well furnished and provided with every kind of comfort: air conditioning, television, telephone, cocktail cabinet and refrigerator.

Facility amenities: The hotel has a large hall that can hold more than 1000 people, a restaurant with regional, national and international cuisine, a relaxation room, a game room, and an American bar. It also has a swimming pool for adults and children and a luxurious garden surrounding the majestic amphitheatre conceived for great events.

Smoking policy: YesSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Morning: An excursion to the Rivera winery, the wine growing traditions of the region with a visit of the cellars, followed by wine tasting.

Lunch: Light lunch enriched by local products.

Afternoon: Transfer to Castel del Monte.
The castle was built directly on a rocky bank, in some places cropping out, and is well known for its octagonal shape. Eight octagonal towers are inserted on each of the eight corners. The wall curtains, built in the local calcareous stone, are marked by a string-course moulding. Eight windows with one light open on the lower floor, seven mullioned windows and only one three mullioned window, facing the city of Andria, on the upper one.
Visit of the castle
Return to hotel
Cooking demonstration
.

Matera, Lecture, the Sassi, Departure to Cosenza and check in at the Hotel Mercure

Breakfast: Breafkast at the Hotel.

Morning: Departure to Matera,
On isite, lecture on Matera "What the Stones know: from traditional lifeway in Matera's Sassi to the process of urban renewal" by Prof. Dorothy Louise Zinn.
Matera is one of the most extraordinary spots on earth for its outstanding example of a troglodyte settlement (cave dwellings) in the Mediterranean Region. For its resemblance to the Jerusalem of 2000 years ago, Matera is a perfect venue for producers to shot their works, among these Mel Gibson with his “The Passion of the Christ”.
Visit of "The Sassi".
In this strange valley dwellings, churches and frescoed chapels, some of which are built, but most of which are carved out of the rock itself, are to be found. The Sassi are under the protection of UNESCO. Some of the rock chapels are Santa Maria d'Idris and Santa Lucia, both of which contain 13C wall paintings, the latter having a particularly fine fresco of St. Michael and architectural devices carved on the rough stone pillar.
Of the churches constructed in a more convetional way the most interesting are those of San Pietro Caveoso and San Pietro Barisano, identifiable by their campanili.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Departure to Cosenza. Check in at the Mercure Hotel
Welcome drink

Room amenities: Your room features satellite TV, air conditioning, and a bathroom with a bathtub

Smoking policy: NoSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Elevator: Yes

Day Ten: Tuesday, October 01 - Lecture, Rossano, Sibari

Breakfast: Breakfast at the Hotel

Morning: Lecture “Pericle’s Political project”
Field trip to Rossano to admire the “Codex Purpureus Rossanensis”
Rossano, home to the Byzantines for five long centuries. They were the heirs of Rome, the Empire of the Caesars, and the idea of the unity of the world that represented the great illusion of the Middle Ages. When at the end of the Classic World, Italy and Western Europe stepped into the Dark Ages the Empire survived and Rossano was an outpost in the West.
Visit to “Liquirizia Amarelli” Museum

Lunch: Lunch at the local restaurant

Afternoon: Transfer to Sibari. Visit to the Archeological Museum of Sibari
Sibari, a 5th century city, a city desired by Pericles, which in the mind of the statesman was an idea and almost an inspiration. Pericles really invented a place impossible to find in Greece, a place where the Greek, without arguing, could give the best of themselves that is the best of the world;
Return to the hotel

Room amenities: Your room features satellite TV, air conditioning, and a bathroom with a bathtub

Smoking policy: NoSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Elevator: Yes

Day Eleven: Wednesday, October 02 - Lecture, Fiumefreddo,

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Lecture “Calabria Traditions & Folcklore”
Excursion to the medieval village of Fiumefreddo
Fiumefreddo takes its name after Flumen frigidum, which means river with potable water, called also as frigidum (cold) due to its fresh waters that stream from the rocks a few kilometers away from the sea.
Transfer to the “Convento dei Cappuccini” at Belmonte

Brunch: Transfer to a small farmhouse to view the rite of home making bread
which will be tasted hot off the oven with home made specialties

Afternoon: Visit to the Colavolpe firm, producer of dried figs
Return to the hotel

Room amenities: Your room features satellite TV, air conditioning, and a bathroom with a bathtub

Smoking policy: NoSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Elevator: Yes

Day Twelve: Thursday, October 03 - Lecture, Santa Severina.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Lecture on "Calabria: Art & Architecure through the centuries" Field trip to Santa Severina.
Santa Severina, a town with a long and rich history: a real history not a legend or a tale, an history supported by thousands of documents, Papal bulls, reports of military campaigns. The town was either under the Byzantines and the Normans and represented a very important center of the Oriental Roman World

Description: Enchanted....straight to the sea of the legendary Riviera of Fata Morgana, leave the fairytale of an "Hotel de Charme" with swimming pool, Solarium, Private Beach and Mediterranean Garden, a few minutes from the city centre

Room amenities: 32 double and twin-rooms, furnished with taste and care for details.
With very comfortable armchairs to relax and writing desk to work
The bathroom, with a big shower, follows the style of the room, with warm and cosy colours
Air conditioning
Telephone
TV
Wi-fi
Room service
24H reception

Description: Enchanted....straight to the sea of the legendary Riviera of Fata Morgana, leave the fairytale of an "Hotel de Charme" with swimming pool, Solarium, Private Beach and Mediterranean Garden, a few minutes from the city centre

Room amenities: 32 double and twin-rooms, furnished with taste and care for details.
With very comfortable armchairs to relax and writing desk to work
The bathroom, with a big shower, follows the style of the room, with warm and cosy colours
Air conditioning
Telephone
TV
Wi-fi
Room service
24H reception

Description: Enchanted....straight to the sea of the legendary Riviera of Fata Morgana, leave the fairytale of an "Hotel de Charme" with swimming pool, Solarium, Private Beach and Mediterranean Garden, a few minutes from the city centre

Room amenities: 32 double and twin-rooms, furnished with taste and care for details.
With very comfortable armchairs to relax and writing desk to work
The bathroom, with a big shower, follows the style of the room, with warm and cosy colours
Air conditioning
Telephone
TV
Wi-fi
Room service
24H reception

Morning: Guided tour of the National Museum of Reggio including "I Bronzi di Riace". Reggio Calabria is the regional capital of Calabria. The city stands at the foot of the Aspromonte, a wild mountainous region, for centuries isolated from the rest of the world. In some villages, the dialect spoken is still based on ancient Greek. It is known above all for its Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia, home to the famed "Riace Bronzes." The Museum houses an extraordinary collection of prehistoric Graeco-Roman and medieval antiquities, including beautiful terracottas, marbles and small bronzes of fine workmanship, form Sibari, Locri, Medma and other sites throughout Calabria. The main hall of the Museum is dominated by the celebrated heroic nude statues discovered off Riace, the so called Bronzi di Riace. The Bronzes are among the very few surviving examples of Classic Greek bronze statuary.
The History and Myth of Reggio Calabria. We will talk about Aschenez, great grandson of Noah, who founded Reggio, and Ulysses and his voyages in the west among sea monsters and fears of unconscious.

Important information about your itinerary: Please know that while we do everything we can to finalize all aspects of our programs well in advance, there are logistics that occasionally must be altered. Our website will reflect the most recent information, and we are committed to providing you with final program details no later than eight weeks prior to the start of programs outside the U.S. and three weeks prior to the start of programs within the U.S. If you ever have questions about your program, please don't hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

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